I’m Someone’s Future

Recently, our family of six drove from Virginia to Orlando, Florida. My husband was attending a conference and we couldn’t let him escape to sunshine without us. We stopped part way down for the night at a hotel. The next morning at breakfast, an older man and his wife were getting up to return to their room. He came over with a smile and told us that we had “a wholesome family. It’s nice to see.”

While spending a day in the Magic Kingdom, we took a little rest and enjoyed some delicious frozen pineapple-orange drinks. A couple at a nearby table came over and asked if he could take our picture for us. He and his wife loved watching us enjoy being a family, and our yummy drinks.

The next day, we took a trip to Clearwater Beach, on the gulf. We enjoyed an amazing seafood feast before heading back to the car to get our beach gear. We passed a young couple who had a one year old little boy. They were both smiling. The wife stopped me and told me that she had just told her husband that we were her future. (Her husband stopped smiling. Probably because he had recounted our family members and realized we had four children.) She said we looked like the family she wanted to have.

Most often, people comment on the size of our family. It’s as if having four children is an anomaly. We get the smiles at our cute children, but you can see the slightly negative thoughts rushing through their minds. But within just a few days, we got three amazing compliments.

The comments caught me off guard and made me realize that others are almost always watching. Someone notices when I am a little too cross with my children in the grocery store, or when I forget to brush someone’s hair, or when I forget to brush my hair. They also notice when we care for each other, love each other and have fun with each other. It is a good reminder for me and for my family to act as if someone is always watching. What kind of mom and wife to I want to represent? What kind of family to I want people to think we are? I want us to be a wholesome, loving family that enjoys each other’s company. I want to be someone’s future.